The United States is the world leader in incarcerating citizens. 707 people out of every 100,000 are imprisoned. If those currently incarcerated in the US prison system were a country, it would be the 102nd most populated nation in the world. Aside from looking at the numbers, if we could look at prison from a new viewpoint, as its own country rather than an institution made up of walls and wires, policies and procedures, and legal statutes, what might we be able to learn?

In A Country Called Prison, Mary Looman and John Carl Weave together sociological and psychological principles and real-life stories from experiences working in prison and with at-risk families. Prison continues well after incarceration, as ex-felons, trapped in the isolation of poverty, turn to illegal ways of providing for themselves and are often reimprisoned. This situation is unsustainable and America is clearly facing an incarceration epidemic that requires a new perspective.